Sensex trims gains to 29 pts after RIL shares slip

The benchmark Sensex today trimmed its morning gains to a mere 29 points at close dragged down by shares of Reliance Industries after Delhi government ordered filing of criminal case against its chief Mukesh Ambani.
The BSE index closed in the positive terrain on jump in Tata Motors, Infosys, Tata Steel and HDFC, amid export growth in January helping trim the surging trade deficit.
Index heavyweight RIL shares, however, slid nearly 2 per cent after the Delhi government ordered filing of criminal cases against Union Minister Veerappa Moily, former minister Murli Deora, Ambani and others following complaints of irregularities in pricing of natural gas in KG basin.

The Sensex opened higher and gained about 109 points intra-day as IT, Auto, Teck and consumer durable sectors attracted good buying interest. It lost momentum as selling in power, realty and oil&gas shares picked up. The Sensex settled at 20,363.37, a gain of 29.10 points of 0.14 per cent compared to Monday's closing value of 20,334.27.
Overall, the 30-share index saw 15 scrips rising while 15 counters fell.
The NSE 50-share Nifty moved up 9.25 points, or 0.15 per cent, to end at 6,062.70. Yesterday, it had slid 9.75 points.

Tata Motors ended 2.83 per cent higher after its third quarter profit soared almost three-fold.

Meanwhile, country's exports increased 3.79 per cent and imports declined 18.07 per cent in January, helping the trade deficit to narrow to USD 9.92 billion.
Globally, Asian stocks ended higher before US Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen delivers her first testimony on monetary policy later in the global day. Key indices in China, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan ended 0.39-1.78 per cent higher.
European markets were also trading higher as indices in France, Germany and Uk moved up by 0.66 pct to 1.02 pct.